Exercise treadmill for additionally vibrating a user running or walking on a tread belt

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, an exercise treadmill includes a tread belt for permitting a user to run or walk thereon, a motor, a wheel and belt assembly for operatively connecting one end of a motor shaft to the tread belt, a sensor proximate the shaft, a controller, and a control panel. The sensor senses a speed change of the shaft in response to an impact on the moving tread belt. In response to the sensing, the controller instructs the motor to increase shaft speed in substantially real time. A user can press a vibration key on the control panel to perform at least one of changing amplitude of a sinusoid and adding same to the shaft speed, changing frequency of the sinusoid and adding same to the shaft speed, and changing the shaft speed via the controller and the motor, thereby vibrating the tread belt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to power driven exercise treadmills and moreparticularly to such an exercise treadmill capable of additionallyvibrating a user running or walking on a tread belt by providing asinusoidal change to a motor speed.

2. Description of Related Art

Recent trends towards physical awareness have led to an increase in thenumber of individuals exercising on a regular basis in order to keepphysically fit. A number of types of exercise equipment are currently inuse to provide exercise to persons who wish to keep physically fitwithout venturing outdoors. One of the most popular of indoor exercisedevices is the exercise treadmill.

A conventional exercise treadmill is shown in FIG. 1. The exercisetreadmill comprises a motor 10 having a drive shaft 11 extendingtherefrom, a flywheel 12 attached to the drive shaft 11, a first wheel13 attached to an end of the drive shaft 11, a front drive roller 17, asecond wheel 16, larger than the first wheel 13 for speed reduction andtorque increase, attached to one end of the drive roller 17, a belt 15trained about the first and second wheels 13 and 16, a rear drivenroller 18, a tread belt 19 trained about the rollers 17 and 18, asupport frame 21 under the tread belt 19, a sensor 14 mounted proximatethe second wheel 16, a controller (e.g., microprocessor) 20 electricallyconnected to the motor 10, and a raised control panel 22 electricallyconnected to the motor 10 for commanding the controller 20.

In use, a person runs or walks on the tread belt 19. The sensor 14 isadapted to sense speed (i.e., speed change) of the tread belt 19 andgenerate and transmit a corresponding signal to the controller 20 whichin turn may transmit an instruction signal to the motor 10 forregulating the speed of the drive shaft 11. However, such control loopcannot regulate the speed of the drive shaft 11 in substantially realtime. The provision of the flywheel 12 can slightly improve theregulation at the cost of increasing the number of components and thusthe manufacturing cost. Further, no vibration effect is provided. Thus,the need for improvement still exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide an exercisetreadmill capable of additionally vibrating a user running or walking ona tread belt by providing one of a plurality of sinusoidal changeshaving a small, predetermined peak value to a motor speed by eliminatinga flywheel and optionally mounting a sensor on a motor shaft.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description taken withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view schematically showing a conventional exercisetreadmill;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view schematically showing a preferred embodimentof exercise treadmill according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of FIG. 2 with a user running on the treadbelt;

FIG. 4 plots average speed versus time for the clockwise rotating motorutilized in the invention;

FIG. 5 plots average speed versus time for the counterclockwise rotatingmotor utilized in the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 where the user is lying on the treadbelt which moves back and forth repeatedly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an exercise treadmill 50 in accordance witha preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The exercise treadmill50 comprises a motor 30 having a drive shaft (not numbered) extendingtherefrom, a first wheel 39 attached to an end of the drive shaft, afront drive roller 35, a second wheel 37, larger than the first wheel 39for speed reduction and torque increase, attached to one end of thedrive roller 35, a belt 38 trained about the first and second wheels 39and 37, a tread belt 34 trained about a pair of rollers 35, a lowerframe 36 for supporting the tread belt 34, a sensor 31 mounted inproximity to the other end of the drive shaft for sensing a rotatingspeed (including its change) and an angular speed (including its change)of the drive shaft, a controller (e.g., microprocessor) 32 electricallyconnected to the motor 30, and a raised control panel 33 mounted on afront top portion of an upwardly extending upright of the frame 36 andbeing electrically connected to the controller 32 for commandingpurpose.

In use, a person runs or walks on the tread belt 34 with the movingspeed of the tread belt 34 being lowered instantly. But the speeddecrease can compromise the desired exercise purpose. Thus, ascontemplated by the invention, the sensor 31 can sense a very smallamount of the speed decrease of the motor 30 and thus the tread belt 34.The sensor 31 also generates and transmits a corresponding signal to thecontroller 32 which in turn may transmit an instruction signal to themotor 30 for increasing the speed of the motor 30 to a speedsubstantially the same as that before the user moving or walking on thetread belt 34 in substantially real time. This speed regulation is moreeffective and can be done more quickly as compared with the conventionalexercise treadmill.

Moreover, a user may press a vibration key on the control panel 33 toinstruct the controller 32 which in turn commands the motor 30 to add asmall, sinusoidal amplitude change to the set constant (i.e., average)speed of the motor 30 (i.e., variable amplitude of the sine wave),change frequency of the sine wave and add same to the average speed ofthe motor 30 (i.e., variable frequency of the sine wave), and/or changethe average speed of the motor 30 in operation, i.e., variable motorspeed. As a result, a vibration effect is given to the moving tread belt34. This has the benefits of effectively relieving muscle pain of thelower body and making muscle supple similar to massage.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, motor speed changes are illustrated. ω1is an average speed of the motor 30. Δω is a rate of speed change duringa period of time (as indicated by T). That is, Δω/2 is a rate of speedchange during half-cycle T/2. Speed variations of the motor 30 aredetailed below.

(i) The motor 30 is not rotating and the tread belt 34 is motionlesswhen both ω1 is equal to 0 and Δω is equal to 0.

(ii) The motor 30 rotates very slowly when ω1 is equal to 0 but Δω isnot equal to 0. Further, the motor 30 clockwise rotates in a firsthalf-cycle T/2 (e.g., a rising edge of the waveform shown in FIG. 4) andthe motor 30 counterclockwise rotates in a second half-cycle T/2 (e.g.,a falling edge of the waveform shown in FIG. 4). As a result, the treadbelt 34 moves back and forth quickly repeatedly. And in turn, avibration is given to the tread belt 34 and thus the user standingthereon since T is a very short period of time and a variable. As aresult, a massaging effect is given to the whole body.

Moreover, Δω can be adjusted by a user by pressing the vibratoin key onthe control panel 33 (i.e., adjust amplitude and/or frequency of thesinusoidal waveform). Thus, different massaging effects are given. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 6 specifically, a user may put a sheet and apillow 51 on the tread belt 34. Next, the user lie on the sheet with thehead rested on the pillow 51. The user then operates a remote control 52for exercising in a manner detailed in paragraph (ii). Alternatively,the remote control 52 is replaced by another controller electricallyconnected to the controller 32 in another embodiment.

(iii) A positive ω1 means the motor 30 rotates clockwise and a negativeω1 means the motor 30 rotates counterclockwise. The motor 30 rotateswithout any vibration when Δω is equal to 0. Therefore, the tread belt34 runs stably. The higher of ω1 the faster of the tread belt 34 moves.It is understood that a user walks on the tread belt 34 when the treadbelt 34 runs relatively slow and the user runs on the tread belt 34 whenthe tread belt 34 runs relatively fast.

(iv) The motor 30 rotates with vibration when Δω is not equal to 0.Thus, for example as shown in FIG. 4, the positive average speed ω1increases to ω1+Δω/2 in a quarter-cycle T/4. In a next T/4, the averagespeed returns to ω1. In a further next T/4, the average speed ω1decreases to ω1−Δω/2. In a still further next T/4 (i.e., at the end ofthis cycle), the average speed increases to ω1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the negative average speed ω1 can operate in amanner the same as described above.

In the case shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, a vibration effect is given tothe user performing exercise.

In brief, the vibration effect is given because the flywheel is removedas contemplated by the invention. Further, the vibration is preciselycontrolled by the sensor mounted on the motor shaft.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could bemade thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

1. An exercise apparatus comprising: a frame; a tread belt mounted onthe frame and being adapted to permit a user to run or walk thereon; amotor mounted in the frame and having a drive shaft extending therefrom;a wheel and belt assembly for operatively connecting one end of thedrive shaft to the tread belt for transmitting rotation from the driveshaft to the tread belt; control means electrically connected to themotor; and a control panel mounted on an end of an upwardly extendingportion of the frame and being electrically connected to the controlmeans, the control panel including a vibration key and a plurality ofcontrol keys, wherein the vibration key is adapted to press to performat least one of changing an amplitude of a sinusoid and adding theamplitude change to a speed of the drive shaft, changing a frequency ofthe sinusoid and adding the frequency change to the speed of the driveshaft, and changing the speed of the drive shaft via the control meansand the motor, thereby giving a vibration effect to the moving treadbelt.
 2. The exercise apparatus of claim 1, further comprising sensormeans mounted proximate the drive shaft, and wherein the sensor means isadapted to sense a change of speed of the drive shaft in response to animpact on the moving tread belt and generate and transmit acorresponding signal to the control means, and the control meanstransmit an instruction signal to the motor for adjusting the speed ofthe drive shaft to a speed substantially the same as that before thechange of speed in substantially real time.
 3. An exercise apparatuscomprising: a frame; a tread belt mounted on the frame and being adaptedto permit a user to lie thereon; a motor mounted in the frame and havinga drive shaft extending therefrom; a wheel and belt assembly foroperatively connecting one end of the drive shaft to the tread belt fortransmitting rotation from the drive shaft to the tread belt; firstcontrol means electrically connected to the motor; a control panelmounted on the frame and being electrically connected to the firstcontrol means, the control panel including a vibration key and aplurality of control keys; and second control means held by the user,wherein the user operates the second control means to perform at leastone of changing an amplitude of a sinusoid and adding the amplitudechange to a speed of the drive shaft, changing a frequency of thesinusoid and adding the frequency change to the speed of the driveshaft, and changing the speed of the drive shaft via the first controlmeans and the motor, thereby giving a vibration effect to the statictread belt.
 4. The exercise apparatus of claim 3, wherein the secondcontrol means is a remote control.
 5. The exercise apparatus of claim 3,wherein the second control means is electrically connected to the firstcontrol means.